Brake-beam.



E; F. KENNEY.

BRAIQBBBAM. APPLICATION FILED JULY 11, 1914.

L1 1 3 Patented Nov. 10, 1914.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR lit) lNIiTE tfli i li itUE,

BIMtKEdZEhP/i Lillthelliill.

{Specification of Letters Intent.

Application filed July it, 19kt. Serial No 850,290.

To al whom it may concern Be it known that l, Enwnno F. hlnnnnr, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of \Vestmont, whose post-oiiice address is JOhIlSiJOWIl, in the county of Cara bria and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful l'nnprovements in Brake-Beams; and i do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as Will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

in trusscd brake beams formed by splitting a rolled shape and using one portion for the compression member and the other for the tension member there is an element of Weakness due to the insuiiicient means and material for transmitting the stress from the compression member to the tension member and vice versa. There is always a tendency to extend the cut, made in shearing, by tearingthe two members apart, and this is resisted only by the strength of the thin portion of the rolled section which is necessarily made light to facilitate shearing. This thin section of metal is also inefiicient in its re sistance to the stresses due to the ragged edges or small cracks produced by the shear cut.

The results of even a small degree of failure, at the point referred to, is a considerable increase in the deflection of the beam under load, or its failure at the junction of the two members.

By upsetting the metal in the rolled section and forming it preferably hot so that the end sections thereof are thickened and thereby reinforced, the connections between the compression and the tension members are made strong, rigid, and unyielding so.

that danger of failure as stated above, 1s removed.

in connection with the above, the end por tions of the beam can be so formed as to make a more suitable support for the brake shoe, thereby obviating the necessity of the additional member ordinarily used, and reducing the, number of parts and the lost motion attendant thereon, under condition of use, which reduction of lost motion is a clesideratim'i.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown invention applied to a brake beam formed from rolled cruciform section,

'; which has been chosen merely for ilinstra tion, for, as Will be readily understood, from the description hereinafter set forth. my invention may be applied to any brake beam formed by splitting a rolled shape and using one portion for the compression member and the other portion for the tension member.

Referring now to the accompanying drawingein which like characters of reference designate like part.-;:--Figure '1. a plan view of a brake beam showing in dotted lines the brake heads, shoes and a strut member. Fig. 2 is a plan view of a modified form of brake beam. Fig, 3 is a section on the line ill--lll of Fig". 1. Fig. 4 is an end View of Fig. showing the brake head and shoe at tached to the brake beam. Fig. 5 is asection through the center of Fig. and corresponds to the section lib-ill of Fig. l. in the operation of' forming my improved brake beam it rolled shape is split and spread apart to form a truss with a compression member l and a tension member 2. ihe portions of the truss intermediate andadjoining the junction 3 and the ends of the beam are upset byany desirable method that will increase the cross sectional area of the end portions 5 between the junction 3 and the end i; thereby greatly reinforcing the said parts and forming a very rigid joint between the compression and the tension members,

The enlarged portions 5 of the brake beam may be so formed to be received by and conform to the general shape oi the socket 6 of the brake head 7 as shown in Fig. i. Rivet or bolt holes 8 formed in the enlarged portions 5 and the brake head 7 receive rivets or bolts 9 which securely fasten the brake head to the brake beam.

As in the usual construction, a strut member, shown in dotted lines in Fig. l of the drawings, separates the tension and compression members of. the brake beam. This strut member may be of any convenient construction.

The dotted line 10 in Fig. 1} shows the original section of the rolled shape and the full line 11 is the general outline of the enlarged portion 5. It will be apparent from the comparison shown in Fig. 3 and in Fig. i that the union or junction 3 of the compression and tension members will be greatly reinforced, by the increased amount of metal as indicated at 12 and elsewhere.

The modified form of brake beam, as shrm'n in l? 2, is of substantially the same construction the brake beam shown in lg. l, the only change being that the en tlti till

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larged ]portions 5 are bent to the positions 13 so t at said enlarged portions are sub stantially parallel with the tension members rather than with the compression members, thereby allowing the transmission of stress to take place with less strain in the materials of construction. Any desired brake head may be attached to the modified form of brake beam, in a manner similar to that shown in Fig. 4.

Although I have shown and described my improvements in considerable detail, I do not Wish to be limited to the exact construction shown and described, but may use such substitutions, modifications or equivalents thereof, as are embraced Within the scope of my invention or as pointed out. in the claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is a 1. A trussed beam comprising compression and tension members integral and upset at their ends.

2. A trussed beam comprising cornpres'v sion and tension members integral and upset at their ends, and thereby enlarged in cross section.

3. A trussed beam comprising compression; and tension members integral and upset at their ends, and thereby enlarged in cross section, said enlarged portions being substantially parallel to the tension members.

4. A trussed brake beam comprising comand pression and tension members integral upset at their ends, thereby enlarged in c section, brake heads and shoes supported the said enlarged portions.

A trusscd brake beam comprising compression and tension members inte upset at their ends, thereby enlarged in cross section, brake heads and shoes supported on the said enlarged portions, and a strut menr ber intermediate 01 and bearing against the compression and tension members.

6. A trussed beam comprising omn pression and tension members integral and apset at their ends, thereby enlar ed in section, sat enlarged pertio being paral lel to the said tension meinbe and brake heads and shoes supported on t ie enlarged portions of the beam.

'Z. A trussed beam comprising compression and tension members integral and upset at their ends, thereby enlarged in cross section, said enlarged portions being parallel to the said tension members, brake heads and shoes supported on the enlarged portions of the beam, 2. strut member intermediate of and bearing against the compression and tension members.

'In testimony whereof I hereto my signature in the resence of two witnesses.

' E WARD F. KENllEY.

' Witnesses:

' HENRY S. SHARP, v ROL'LA H. MILLER.

al and 

